The Rogue King
by Balmung6
Summary: The tale of Blitz in the world of the Rogue King. -Update: Ch.2 is now up!-
1. Chapter 1

He cursed as another droplet of water splashed on the back of his neck. Once again he regretted not bothering wearing a jacket that had a hood on it, but hey, vanity has a price, and that price was a hood. Still, he hated caves like this. Caves in general he liked – room to explore, things to find, beasts to fight – but not these drippy, water-logged caves, spires of rock splashing water down the back of his neck every 60 seconds. He could never remember whether the ones on the ceiling were called stalactites or stalagmites, and right now, he didn't care – right now they were just stalag-mighty annoying to him. He sighed and kept going, his black sneakers, a blue line running down either side – sneakers which he thought of as clodhoppers, since they had soles so thick and heavy that he could probably knock a guy out with one kick – splashing through the various puddles strewn about the cave floor. Passing through a narrow opening, he emerged into a large open room, and no drippy rocks, he noted with a smile. As he walked, his footsteps echoing in the empty space, it crossed his mind that it was rather strange that no water or rock protrusions in here at all. Looking around, there was what looked like the bases of rocks like the ones farther back in the cave, as if they had been broken off – an earthquake, perhaps? The degree to which the break was clean disturbed him, but he kept going. At the far end of the cavern, there was a door with inscriptions along the door's edge and in a circle around the handle. Moving closer, he noticed that the inscriptions were glowing faintly, a gentle, pulsing green. Definitely a guard spell, he thought. He raised one hand, clothed in a glove with the fingers and thumb cut off and a square cut away on the back to reveal the skin on the back of his hand, and pressed his palm against the door, sending a pulse of energy into it. The inscriptions glowed bright for an instant, then swiftly faded to black.

He smiled, then turned as the sound of grinding stone emitted from behind him – a circle on the floor, the same color as the inscriptions, opened the rock within the circle and another floor of rock rose up, carrying a beast unlike any he'd seen before. It was a big brute, resting on its feet and knuckles of its long arms, coated in brown fur from the waist down and built like an ape. The upper half, however, was made of solid crystal the color of jade, with pointed ears sticking above its head, maroon slits for eyes, and teeth that were stained a deep purple, also made of crystal. Leaning forward on its knuckles it opened its mouth and roared long and deep at him, the sound erupting echoes throughout the cave. Well, that explains the lack of rocks in this cavern area, he thought grimly. As the beast lumbered across the room, he grabbed his hat, looking much like ' save for blue stripes instead of red, and reached inside, a moment later drawing out an object – a guitar, something that by no means should have even been able to fit inside that hat in the first place. Most fighters and mages had a sword to fight with – his, however, was his personal preference and favorite: his guitar, the base a deep, rich, royal blue, though he just thought of it as his guitar. As the beast charged him, he jumped onto its shoulder and used it as leverage to leap behind him, whacking the beast upside the back of the head with the base of the guitar as he did. He landed and turned around to see the beast stumble for a moment, then spin around and charge at him again. As the beast charged, he gripped the neck of the guitar tighter, and a moment later the right-hand side of the base folded back to reveal a very sharp, iron-grey blade, his own addition to the weapon. As the beast got close, it raised its fist, then brought it down, making the warrior jump to dodge as it made a small crater in the stone floor. He landed lightly on top of the fist, then ran up the beast's arm, aiming for the head. The beast shook its arm to dislodge the warrior, but he jumped and sent a light pulse of magic down the guitar's length, making the blade split into many sections, then half moved left, half right, each section moving the opposite direction of the one before it, then spinning furiously – a magical chainsaw, and built into a guitar, no less. He brought the guitar down on the beast's head between the right ear and the skull, the spinning blades cleaving and chewing through the crystalline beast with a sound like someone dumping a crystal chandelier into a wood chipper, slicing the beast's right ear clean off, blue ichor pouring from the fresh wound as the ear hit the ground and splintered a few pieces off as it impacted the stone floor.

The beast, wounded, howled in a furious anger and whipped its other fist around in a round-house move, the warrior raising his guitar to block and still getting launched a fair distance across the room, landing nimbly on his feet like a cat. Whew, he thought, I better not fool around much longer with this beastie or I might get squashed flat. As the beast charged once again, he ran towards it as well, the beast showing surprise at the warrior's tactic for a moment before roaring and charging faster. As the beast neared, he swung his right fist across; intending to take the warrior's head clean off, but the warrior had other ideas. As the beast swung, he dove and slid feet first under the beast, between its legs, giving the beast a good hard smash between the legs with his guitar as he passed – a cheap tactic, to be sure, but always effective in a pinch. As he got up and turned around, brushing stone flecks and dust off his jacket that he was rather attached to – tall collar around the back, no hood, black in color, with black, spiky fur around the collar, edges, hem and cuffs – he looked over to see the beast on one knee and resting on one knuckle – obviously the warrior's tactic had paid off, more noticeable when the beast turned slowly around to show a large purple bruise forming between its legs, making the warrior wince.

"Oooh, sorry about that, dude," he said as he smiled and pointed his guitar at the beast, walking towards the inscription-trimmed door, "But you attacked me first, remember?"

The beast lurched unsteadily to its feet, not looking so good – blue ichor dripping down the side of its face and a large purple bruise between its legs – but leaned forward and charged once again, a howl escaping its lips – at a higher pitch than before, the warrior noted with a sly grin. He ran towards the door, his black jeans flapping in the wind from his movements, a symbol for light in gold on one leg near the cuff and a symbol for dark in a deep, rich purple on the other side of the other leg. He screeched to a halt, looking at the beast charging towards him, then grinning and slamming his foot down – on the end of the crystalline ear he had chopped off earlier, flipping it into the air. He swung around, bringing the guitar around his body to smash it across the room, the pointed tip of the ear working against its original owner as it pierced the beast's chest and out the other side, the beast giving a gurgling growl, blue ichor pouring from it's wounds and mouth, before rolling up its eyes and collapsing face-down on the floor with a loud crunch as the bottom part of the sawed-off ear was broken under it's weight. The warrior grinned at his success as blue ichor pooled around the beast, then sniffed and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Woo, that stuff stinks somethin' fierce!" he muttered.

He turned swiftly at the sound of a click behind him, guitar at the ready, but lowered when he saw what it was – the door opening, a few inches ajar. He walked over and pushed the door open with his guitar carefully, revealing a small room with a pedestal with a blue, soft light shining on it. He approached warily, turning swiftly as the door shut behind him – no handle on this side either. Looks like I'm stuck until I figure this room out, he thought with a spark of irritation. As he neared the pedestal, the light brightened until he had to shield his eyes, and when it dimmed and he looked, a blue woman was floating there. She had azure blue skin, flowing hair of a deeper, richer blue down to her waist, and eyes the color of a light indigo, and had a light blue tail as well. Her body was rather shapely as well – easy to tell since whatever force had summoned her hadn't bothered to clothe her before sending her here. She looked at the warrior with a smile, showing hints of both power and mischief. She's kinda cute, he thought with an inward smile. Her affinity for blue was a bonus in his book – he had azure eyes himself, though his hair was silver, but still, he liked her color choice. Then she spoke, her voice like a soft bell:

"Well done on reaching this place, warrior – you are the first to ever defeat my guardian and reach this place."

The warrior grinned. "I can see why, he was a strong beastie, to be sure. But tell me, miss – who are you?"

The woman smiled that mischievous smile again. "I am the keeper of the hidden power that resides deep in this cave, which you have so bravely explored." The warrior smiled and tipped his hat briefly at the compliment. "If you so desire, I can grant that power to you – having bested my guardian, you have earned the right."

The warrior nodded and held out his guitar. The woman held a hand out, palm up, and a blue orb of light formed, glowing faintly before floating across and dropping into the guitar, sending a ripple of light across the base and up the neck.  
"Granted." Said the woman, "You now have the ability to add the power of water to your magic and attacks whenever you please."  
The warrior grinned. "Nice!" He pointed the guitar at the far side of the room and focused for a moment and a second later an orb of water shot out of the guitar's base, hitting the far wall hard enough to crack the rock in a few places. He grinned again. "Nice power you've got there, miss. It'll come in handy."

She smiled. "You desired my power and I gave it – you earned it." Then her smile turned more mischievous and she floated a little closer to the warrior, her tail swaying side to side gently. "But you're not the only one with a bit of 'desire' this day, mortal," she said, noting his muscular frame, his strength obvious to anyone who looked at his chest or arms. "How about staying a little longer and setting your new power aside for now? It's been many centuries since I had a mortal all to myself." As she spoke, her tail moved around and brushed along his arm slowly.

The warrior chuckled – she _was_ quite voluptuous and unclothed to boot – but he pushed her tail gently aside with his guitar. She pouted, her bottom lip sticking out - making her look even cuter - and said. "Oh, you're no fun at all."  
The warrior laughed and said. "Sorry, miss; I appreciate the offer, but I'm taken."

The women tilted her head slightly, curious. "I wonder now, mortal – just who are you?"

The warrior grinned and swung his guitar over his shoulder, holding it by the neck. "Who, me? I'm just a guy named Blitz."


	2. Chapter 2

The woman smiled. "Blitz? That's an unusual name."

Blitz laughed and grinned. "An unusual name for an unusual guy. But what might your name be, miss?"

With a smile and light toss of her hair, she said, "My name is Aquaria, being of water. I've been here for many years – you're the first visitor in centuries."

Blitz grinned and laughed again. "Considering your rather aggressive doorman, I'm not surprised."

Aquaria laughed - a soft, soothing sound. "Clever. So, Blitz," she said as she lay down on her stomach, legs moving back and forth behind her slowly and teasingly with her hands linked together, her chin resting on them – clearly she hadn't given up on Blitz just yet -, "what are you going to do now that you have my power?"

Blitz smiled and shrugged. "Leave. I came here following a faint trace of power outside the cave and decided to explore to find out what the source was."

Aquaria frowned for a moment, then said, "Mind if I join you?" She giggled. "I can't even remember the last time I traveled with a big, strong mortal like you." Her eyes wandered over Blitz's frame as she spoke.

Blitz grinned. Dodging her little flirts was starting to get fun. "I suppose so, but I think a floating, blue, naked girl would draw too much attention – even for me," he laughed.

Aquaria pouted again – cute as ever – and said "You mean you don't like the idea of having a naked girl with you all the time?" She batted her eyelids innocently.

Blitz laughed again. "I do, but people would ask a lot of questions."

Aquaria laughed, then nodded. "Fair enough, handsome. Then how about this?" She closed her eyes, and a moment later, started glowing. The glowing erupted into a bright light, so Blitz shielded his eyes with his arm again, and when the light dimmed, in place of Aquaria was a blue pendant on a strip of cloth like a necklace, which then floated over and looped itself over Blitz's neck, and he immediately heard Aquaria's voice in his head: "This way I can speak directly into your mind so no one else can see or hear me, and you can just think what you want to say back to me. You can also call on me to use my powers or boost your own when you need to – after all, the orb of power I gave you was a drop in the ocean of my own power."

Blitz smiled and nodded. "Handy ability. Is the chain unbreakable? I wouldn't want to drop you by accident."

Inside the pendant, Aquaria smiled. "Aww, you big softie, you do care." She giggled. "Sure you don't want to tuck me inside your shirt for safe keeping? My color doesn't really match your jacket."

Blitz laughed. "Excuses, excuses – if you can turn into a pendant at will I don't think a color change is beyond your abilities."

He could almost see Aquaria's pout. "Oh, alright killjoy, but you owe me for this." A moment later, the pendant changed color to a deep, rich royal blue, the same color as both Blitz's guitar and Aquaria's hair. "Better?" she asked.

Blitz nodded. "Much." He walked over to the door. "By the way, how do you open this thing? There's no handle on this side."

Aquaria giggled again. "Sorry, guess I was distracted by something." The pendant pulsed for a moment the inscriptions on the door glowed the same blue as the pendant, then the door swung open. Stepping out into the previous room, he noticed immediately that the beast he had slain not 10 minutes ago was gone, along with the blue ichor that was the beast's blood.

"Hey, where did your big green friend go?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"When someone is defeated in this room, the remains are destroyed via magic – that's why the remains of previous warriors weren't strewn across the room when you arrived." Said Aquaria.

Blitz nodded. That explains the broken rocks but no broken bodies – guess the spell isn't designed to clean up the landscape itself, he thought.

As he walked back through the cave, the pendant gently bumping against his chest as he walked, he noticed something else – the annoying water droplets had stopped. Looking up, he saw water droplets glistening as they clung to the rocks. One right above him fell, but as soon as it was about to hit him, it changed direction in mid-air and hit the ground next to him.

"Did you do that?" he thought to Aquaria, surprised.

She giggled. "What, silly, you think deflecting a few droplets is beyond my abilities?"

Blitz smiled. She may come in handy after all, he thought.

As he emerged outside, he shielded his eyes from the sunlight until they adjusted. In the shine of the full sun, he got a better look at the pendant that was now Aquaria. It was a royal blue pendant with a large, azure sapphire set in the center of it. Kind of pretty, he thought.

"Aww, you're sweet!" said Aquaria with a soft laugh.

Blitz looked puzzled. "You heard that?"

"Of course, silly," she said with another giggle, "I can't hear any thought from you unless you direct them at me or the pendant, so when you thought of how pretty the pendant was, I heard it."

Blitz raised an eyebrow. "Just out of curiousity, why are you so girlish and bubbly now? You seemed more mysterious and mystical back in the cave."

Aquaria giggled. "I'm not sure myself, maybe the dark damp of the cave and my duties to pass on part of my power were putting a damper on my personality - now it's all bubbly and free!" she giggled again.

Blitz smiled. "Glad to hear it." He pulled his hat off his head, holding it with one hand, pointing downward, then tossed his guitar into the air, watching it as it did a flip once then fell into the hat, once again a place it shouldn't have even been able to fit in the first place.

"What kind of hat is that?" asked Aquaria, curious at the guitar's disappearance.

Blitz set the hat back on his head. "I had it magically altered to be huge on the inside – I can fit loads of stuff into it, it comes in handy."

"Handy." Said Aquaria.

Blitz walked out of the cave, blinking a little in the now-bright sunlight as he made his way to his bike – his own invention, a bike that ran on steam power. He threw a leg over the side and revved it a moment before taking off, sticking to the dusty dirt trails in the forest surrounding the cave – easier to navigate than the thick forest interior.

"This bike is pretty fast," said Aquaria, "Did you build it yourself?"

He nodded. "Steam powered – a little water and it runs fine."

Aquaria giggled softly. "Water, gee, where on earth would you get that way out here?"

Blitz laughed. "Yet another reason I'm glad to have you aboard." He paused for a moment. "Mind if I just call you Aqua? Saying your full name every time seems a little tedious."

Aquarius smiled. "Sure. Aqua it is."

As Blitz drove, a bridge appeared on the path, crossing a river that cut through the forest like a ribbon of blue. As he approached, three figures in rough brown leather stepped from the trees and barred the path. Blitz came to a stop before them.

Eyeing them questioningly, he said, "I'm assuming you three didn't stop me for a game of chess."

The biggest one in the middle gave a hoarse laugh, revealing a mouth with a few teeth missing, and said, "Damn right, stranger. This here's a toll bridge – you gotta pay if you wanna cross."

In his head, he could here Aqua. "Just bypass them," she said, "With my power of water I can help you cross the river further down the stream."

"No can do," thought Blitz, "These three hardly look like officials – probably bandits."

Aloud, Blitz said "You three don't look very official to me."

One of the three, a little rat-like character with a slanted face, smirked. "Official, not official, what's the difference? Fee is still the same, stranger." His eyes moved to Blitz's bike. "Or just leave that little ride of yours here with us – it'll fetch a nice price on the market."

Blitz's brow furrowed. "I think not," he said, climbing off his bike.

"Have it your way!" said the three, the two smaller ones attacking from the sides while the big guy charged at him head-on.

Blitz chuckled to himself. Idiots. No wonder they were missing teeth. Blitz turned and swiftly drove a closed fist into the stomach of the right one, winding him and sending him flying back a few feet, then turning and doing a somersault to avoid the blade of the left one, whipping out his guitar as he rolled and connecting a blow with the guitar's base right between his eyes, leaving a bruise and knocking him out cold. The last guy, unmoved by the condition of his comrades, pulled out a large hammer and swung it full force in an overhand blow. "Take this!" He yelled.

Blitz caught it with one hand. "Nice swing, but" he said as a diamond-like scales rippled down his arm and over his hand where he gripped the hammer's head, crushing it like a ripe berry, "Not nice enough."

The bandit staggered backward, stunned by his strength, and then grit his teeth in rage. "You won't win that easily, you punk!" He lunged with a closed fist.

Blitz sighed with an eye roll. "Oh, please." And stopped his fist, grabbed his arm with his free hand, and swung him over his head, flipping him onto his back in the dirt hard enough to completely wind him.

Blitz made sure he stayed down with a quick rap against his forehead. "Learn when it's time to give up, 'stranger'." Said Blitz before mounting his bike and driving over the bridge and down the forest path, leaving three bandits lying in the dust, questioning their line of work.

Later that day, a patrol from one of the land's Kings reported to his lord. The king was sitting on his throne expectantly as the footman kneeled before him and spoke: "We have finished our rounds in the forest as you requested my liege. The uprising of bandits in the forest has been dealt with, and with minimal injuries."

"Very good," said the King, "But how many did you defeat? From what I heard it was a small scale uprising, but they had a decent number of recruits."

The footman paused, then said, "Fifty-seven, sir."

The King raised an eyebrow. "Fifty-seven? I believe the reports stated that there were a total of at least sixty bandits."

The footman paused once more before replying, "That's true sir, but someone beat us to the last group. We found them unconscious by a bridge in the woods. When they came to we asked them how they came to be in that condition, and they claimed a man on a bike with a guitar had done it-"

The footman was interrupted by a hearty laugh from the King. The King smiled. "A man with a guitar? To think that he's nearby – a pity, I could have simply hired him and saved my guards the trouble!"

The footman looked up, confused. "My…m-my lord? One man for a group of over sixty bandits? Just who is this man they spoke of?"

The King smiled. "An old friend of mine." He linked his fingers together with a plan forming in his head. "Perhaps it's time we had a friendly get-together with Mr. Blitz."


End file.
